Potato-sorting apparatus.



W B. HODGES.

POTATO' SORTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 21,1914;

Patented July 28, 1914,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

)nvEmoR E HYW W m JITTORNEY WITNESSES w B; HODGES.

POTATO SORTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.21,1914.

Patented July 28, 191$ 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES IITTORHEY v W BURKE HODGES, NEW HUDSON, MICHIGAN.

IE'OTATO-SORTING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

I Application filed March 21,1914. Serial Ito. 826,158,.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, W BURKE Honcns, acitizen of the United States, residing at New Hudson, county of Oakland,State of Michi-' gan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement1n Potato-Sort ng Apparatus,

and declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of thesame, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference beingbad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecification- Thi invention relates to potato sortingapparatus.

It has for of screens which not only orts potatoes and removes thedirt,but also directs the sorted potatoes into receptacles placed fortheir reception.

Figure 1, is a perspective view of the de vice. Fig. 2, is a verticallongitudinal section. Fig. 3, is a perspective view which shows theapparatus in process of folding.

The side ralls a are supportedon the legs I), Z2 forming what might becalled an opentop table. The pair of legs 6 is pivoted on the inside andthe pair of legs I) is pivoted on the outside-of the side rails a. Thepairs of legs are connected by cross bar 0. ,Each pair of legs when indistended positioncan be braced to the side rails a by thebraces d heldin place by the wing screw 6..

pair of legs 72 on the-inside so thatlwhen the pair of legs 6 is foldedover the screens,

as shown in Fig. 3, the bag-holding bail f maybe turned over to liewithin the package formed by the collapsed apparatus. I The upperscreenframe g is hinged to the side rails a by the hinges hiwhich arelocated at the openend of the frame. At .the opposite end the screenframe is pro-I vided with the'handle w. Thi frame is provided with ascreen i'with large meshes,

hence when potatoes are shoveled in the top ofthis screen thesmall'ones' dropthrough- This is an improved 7 way of sorting potatoesover the oldmethod the square openings.

of sorting them through spaced slats, for

often flat potatoes of considerable width drop through spaces betweenthe slats.

This cannot occur mwiththe square open-- ings. Underneath the frame 9 ian under screen frame y". This frame is provided.

its object a simple arrangement with meshes which are. muchsmallerthanthe meshes of the screen 2'. Its purpose is to allow the dirt and refuseto drop through. The under screen frame jis pivoted to the upper screenframe 9 by the link is, one at each side. To the pair of legs 6, aspoutpiece' Z. is hinged and this i s-provided with an extending strapon so that when the table is in distended position the strap m canbebrought under the lower end of the under screen frame 7'. This allowsthe passing of the winged screw n through the hole in the strapandthrough a hole in the lower end of the screen frame j. After thisfastening has taken place, the under screen is pivoted to the cross bar0 of the pair of legs 6 while the upper end of the under screen frame 9'is swingingly hung from the screen frame 5] PatentedJulyZS, 1914.

by the links is. These links is are of such a I length as to disposethescreen at quite. an.

. angularity with respectto the horizontal, as

is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. To each side; of the under screen'frame y ishinged a sheet metal wing 0; and to each of these wings is pivoted awing extension 79 near the spout end- Referring to Fig. 2, it will beobvious that the wing extension p can be swung back who against thewing. okby reason of its pivoting thereto,xwhile the wing 0 can bedropped down-across the face of the screen by reason of its hingedconnection to the screen frame. (SeeFig. '3); @This folding Abag-holding bail 7" is pivoted to the arrangement is for the purpose offolding the wings upon the screen when the appara- [tus is collapsed.When they are held out in the position shown in Fig. 2, they form sidesfor a chute formed by the secondscreen.

screwed to the frame 9 bythe winged screws 4". H They may be easilyremoved bytaking outthe screws and this will allow the insertion of-ascreen of different-sized meshes- When" in place they serve to'hold thescreen tothe frame'andalso serve to throw outthe metal guide piecesThese metal guide pieces direct the potatoes into the bag t that hangsupon the sharp pointsu of the bagholding bail f. In Fig. 2, "it will. beseen that there arepoints o located on the upper cross bar of the pairoflegs b and upon these points the cloth of the bag may be impaled aswellgason the points u of the bail.

Hence the bag "i held open; also the weight of the potatoes in the bagtends to swing the bail back, as shown in the outer dotted lines of Fig.2.

The potatoes are shoveled onto the upper screen; the handle a: isgrasped and the screen shaken by raising it slightly, then dropping itand repeating the operation several times. After thi has been doneseveral times the small potatoes will all have dropped through theopenings in the screen onto the under or finer screen. i The dirt andrefuse drops through both screens. Inasmuch as the links it connect thetwo screens together, any shaking of the upper screen shakes the lowerscreen, then by tipping the screen up to quite an angle with respect tothe horizontal (as shown in the dotted lines of Fig. 2), not only willthe potatoes in the upper screen run down into the bag 6, but thepotatoes in the lower screen or chute, which is simultaneously tipped,will run through the spout piece Z into a crate or other waitingreceptacle (not shown). Hence by practically the same manipulations bothscreens may be shaken and both screens dumped.

The guide pieces 8 can be folded back through an angle of 180 degrees soas to lie flat against the inside of the side bars of the upper screenframe 9. This allows the removal of the screen when the blocks 9 aretaken out; 7

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be understood how the apparatus isfolded'together into a small package. The whole device is turned overwith the top of the screen frame resting upon the floor. The bail f isfolded through approximately 180 degrees. The spout piece Z is detachedfrom the lower screen frame j. This allows the under screen frame vj tobe folded against the bottom of the upper screen frame 9, the wings 0having first been folded down as shown in Fig. 3 and the wingextensionsp swung in. Then the pair of legs 17 are folded down againstthe bottom of the upperscreen frame 9 and on the outside of the underscreen frame 7'. This pair of legs 6 folds f on the inside of the siderails at. Next the pair of legs 6 may be folded down on the,

outside of the side rails a as shown by the 'dottedarcs of Fig. 3.Before the apparatus.

is turned up to fold into collapsed position, the upper frame 9 may behooked-to the side rails a by the hooks to. This holds the two togetherso that they will'not drop away from each other in inverting theapparatus. When the apparatus is folded up it may be easily carried as apackage by hand or in a carriage or wagon.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for sorting, having in combination,. an open-top table,comprising a top frame, a pair of legs for supporting said top frame, asecond pair oflegs for supporting said top frame, the two pairs of legsbeing foldable one pair inside the other and into the same plane withthe top frame, a screenof larger mesh pivoted at one end to the top ofthe top frame, and adapted to rest parallel against said top frame, ascreen of smaller mesh detachably pivoted to one pair of legs, and meansfor operatively hanging the free end of the screen of smaller meshunderneath the screen of larger mesh, the said screen of smaller meshbeing of less width than the narrower pair of legs and adapted, whendetached from its pivot, to lie between the narrower pair of legs in theplane of the top frame and against the screen of larger mesh.

2. Apparatus for sorting, having in com bination, a pair of side railsforming the top of'an open-top table, a pair of legs pivoted at one endof the side rails to the outside thereof,and foldable into the plane ofthe side rail at the outside of the side rails, a second pair of legspivoted at the other end of the side rails to the inside thereof andfoldable into the same plane as the side rails and within the said twoside rails, a screen of larger mesh pivoted to the'top of the side railsat one end and adapted to lie against the side rails, a screen ofsmaller 'mesh detachably pivoted to one pair of legs and adapted to lieagainst the bottom of the screen oflarger mesh when detached from itspivoting and to lie between the inside pair of legs, and means forflexibly suspending the free end of the screen of smaller mesh beneaththe screen of larger mesh.

3. Apparatus for sorting, having in combination, a top frame, two pairsof legs foldable, when collapsed, into the same plane as the top frame,a screen of larger mesh pivoted at one end to the top frame andadapted-to lie against the top of the top frame when the apparatus iscollapsed, a screen of smaller mesh suspended at its free end to thescreen of larger mesh and of width narrower than the inside pair oflegs, so asto lie between the inside pair of legs, and means forflexibly suspending the free end of the screen of smaller mesh beneaththe screen of larger mesh.

- 4. Apparatus for sorting, having in com bination, atop frame, twopairs of legs foldable, when collapsed, into the same plane as the topframe, a screen of larger mesh pivoted at one end to the top frame andadapted to lie against the top of the top frame when the apparatus iscollapsed, a screen of smaller mesh suspended at its free end to thescreen of larger mesh and of width narrower than the inside pair oflegs, so as to lie between the inside pair of legs in the plane of thetop frame, a spout for said screen of smaller mesh pivoted to'one pairof legs and attachable to the end of the screen of smaller mesh oppositethe suspended end, and a pair of wings hinged to the sides of the screenof smaller mesh and foldable over against the said screen, when theapparatus is collapsed.

5. Apparatus for sorting, having in combination, an open-top tablecomprising a top frame supported upon legs, an upper screen frameprovided with a screen of large mesh, said upper screen frame beingpivoted at one end to the top frame and adapted to rest thereupon inhorizontal position except when operated by swinging in a vertical arcand striking the same against said top frame, an under screen frameprovided with a screen of finer mesh pivoted at its end which liesopposite the pivoted end of the upper screen frame and underneath thetable, anda link for holding the free end of said under screen higherthan the pivoted end and to the upperscreen frame adjacent the upperscreen frames pivoted end, whereby manipulation of the upper screenframe, serves to shake the lower screen frame and the bringing of theupper screen frame into a an angularity for dumping its contents alsofacilitates the dumping of the lower screen.

In testimony whereof, I. sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

W BURKE HODGES. Witnesses:

VIRGINIA G. SPRATT, AGNES M. HIPKINS. v,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner or Patents,

Washington; D; c. v

